November 05, 2009

Brandeis and the Rose, the latest

I hate giving credit where credit is due, but hey. All I've done on the Rose Museum saga at Brandeis is reprint the emails a member of the university community forwards to me, and I sometimes opine about them, scathingly I hope. Then there's Greg Cook, whose blog is The New England Journal of Aesthetic Research and who seems to most enjoy limning the artistic intent of various exhibitions, many obscure. However, Cook has been a veritable Woodward and Bernstein on the Rose, and this week he came up with another nugget not to be missed. Nothing of great import, perhaps, but a vivid illustration of the way Brandeis administration has operated.

Credit the Globe today for giving front page space today to Sebastian Smee's rave review of what he calls "the museum’s astounding new show, 'The Rose at Brandeis: Works From the
Collection' - providing, finally, a true look at the scope, coherence,
and sheer distinction of the Rose’s permanent collection." Smee quite rightly adds his voice to those who find incredible the idea that some of that collection might be sold to pay the bills. But it's Cook who reported earlier this week that, while Brandeis gutted the Rose staff, it has found the money to hire a part-time "curator and arts coordinator" for the university's women's studies center, which - TOTAL COINCIDENCE - is run by Brandeis President Jehuda Reinharz's wife. Sweet!